


We Were Lost Before We Started

by HolleringHawk65



Series: The Batman They Got [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Batman!Jason, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, pretends CA:CW didn't happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolleringHawk65/pseuds/HolleringHawk65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Batman meets some more Avengers & Jason is just as lost as he was before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Were Lost Before We Started

**Author's Note:**

> Alright I'm so sorry that it's been so long between the last fic and this one! I worked a lot and I was looking at colleges (I've successfully narrowed my list down to 10!) and trying to do this thing for a club I started and I start school again on Thursday and yeah. But I swear I'm going to keep up with this series as much as I can because I love it so much and I hope you do as well!

“I still don’t think that this was a good idea.”

Jason and Steve had driven to the Avengers Facility. He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but Jason wasn’t that impressed by it. Then again, he knew that when one had seen the Fortress of Solitude, the Hall of Justice, and the Watchtower, it was a little hard to be impressed by any other superhero base, even if it was on a different Earth.

Steve shrugs as they get out of the car. Jason’s still in the full Batsuit, because there was no way that he was going to hand his identity to them on a silver platter, but Steve had ditched his own suit back in Gotham and was currently wearing an incredibly tight t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans (which, if Jason is being honest with himself, really showcase him in all the right places). “I guess we’ll find out in a few minutes of you were wrong or not. In any case, Batman, you know that you need to meet the rest of the team.”

Jason knows the exact reason as to why he’s stalling. Bats don’t get introduced to teams, they _make_ them. It makes him feel like he’s dishonoring the suit by not being more like Bruce. “Yeah, I do know that.” _Doesn’t mean that I have to like it._

He can tell that he’s shaking and feels a burst of shame. _Bats shouldn’t be_ afraid _. But here I am, shaking like a goddamn leaf._

They walk in through the garage. The clatter of pans and the smells of breakfast being made greet them instantly. Jason stands just inside the doorway, out of the way if someone went to use it, but close enough to bolt if he wanted to. In all honesty, the door is just a placebo. He knows that he’ll want to, but he also knows that he can’t leave.

Steve goes further in and he’s met with a chorus of hellos. Jason forces himself to take a few steps away from the door.

“That outfit is just so rad! Did you design it yourself?” A brunet comes up to him, headphones around his neck. He looks like a hipster, if Jason is being honest with himself (which, today of all days, he is). “I’m Spider-Man, but you can call me Peter.” He extends his hand that isn’t holding a laptop.

Jason takes it and shakes it firmly. “Batman. And no, I didn’t design this myself.” He looks at Peter for a moment longer than he probably should, but the kid doesn’t shrink away. He reminds him of someone, but he can’t place it, which bothers him. But, he mentally shrugs it off. “Do you live here?”

“Uh, not usually? Aunt May thinks that I’m at a conference with Mr. Stark for the weekend.”

“That’s a nice cover,” Jason remarks. Stark is one of two Avengers who existed in his Other Life as an actual person and not a comic book character. Considering he was friends with Bruce, it was beyond odd to see him as Iron Man in this world. “One of the best parts about it is that it’s not much of a lie, right?”

Peter nods, a smile tugging on his lips. “Are you going to come into the kitchen and have breakfast? Or are you as nocturnal as your namesake?”

Jason mentally credits the kid for having a little bit of spunk. He kind of reminds him of Tim, but the moment he thinks that, he feels a little ache in his chest. “Sure, let’s see what kind of grub you guys can whip up.”

They walk into the kitchen and Jason suddenly realizes how Alfred must feel when he walks in on Bruce or Dick trying to cook. The kitchen is a disaster area (he decides he _does not_ want to know why there’s pancake batter _on the ceiling_ ); there’s _stuff_ all over the counters, something in the oven looks like it’s burning, there’s fruit on a bloody cutting board-

He takes a deep breath.

He pushes his cowl down and takes off his gloves, setting them on a stool that is miraculously clean.

For a second, everyone looks at him (he’s rather sure he hears someone whistle). He huffs in annoyance as he crosses the kitchen, dumping the dry looking eggs into the trash.

“There’s no need to stare,” he starts, “I’m Batman and I’m going to save this breakfast.”

Most of what they had done needed to be scraped, but he didn’t mind. He hadn’t been able to get into a real kitchen in months to just _cook_ , so this was a welcome task.

\---

“I just want to point out that if I had gotten here earlier, there would have been a nice, homey breakfast, just like S- everyone likes, waiting,” Sam explains as Jason brings all of the food over to the table. “And I would have helped when I did get here, but, uh, you seem like the type-”

“Who prefers to work alone?” Jason finishes, smirking a little bit. “I used to have a team,” he admits, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“Was that before you were Batman?” Steve asks.

For a minute, Jason had forgotten that he was Batman now, so he just nods in response. “Something like that.”

“Personally,” Peter starts, “I’m kinda starving, so can we get a move on this?”

\---

Bucky comes down half way through, his shirt riding up as he stretches. He pauses at the foot of the stairs, blinking when he sees Jason. “I didn’t think you would actually come.” He doesn’t say anything else as he gets a banana and goes back upstairs.

Steve looks after him and sighs before getting up. “I should go check on him.” The others all look a little exasperated, as if this is commonplace, but Jason gets it.

\---

Jason eventually gets out of the Batsuit; they’ve all seen his face already, so he doesn’t see the point in keeping it on. He’s kind of assuming the clothes he’s wearing on Thor’s, considering how they hang on him, (which is saying something, considering how he, himself, is built) but he doesn’t know for sure.

He has a lot of nervous energy built up, but it’s not like he can go sit in the middle of the living room and start doing yoga here. So instead he sighs and pads back into the kitchen. Thor is sitting on a stool as Sam and Peter do dishes; Jason has already gathered that Thor is prone to accidentally breaking the plates when he does them.

“Where’s Black Widow?” Jason asks as he gets on the stool farthest away from Thor. He doesn’t have anything against him, he just needs his space after being crowded in on by everyone. He looks around again, searching for the redhead. She was instantly marked as the most dangerous of them; maybe it was because she reminded him too much of Talia.

“Training downstairs, probably,” Peter explains. “She’s probably doing some rounds with Steve while Wanda watches.”

“Would you like to spar with me?” Thor asks. “You appear to be a formidable opponent.”

Jason looks him up and down. If Thor doesn’t use Mjolnir, he might have a chance. “Only if you can promise not to break any of my bones, I need to be able to patrol tonight.”

Thor grins as he gets up. “Onwards to the gym!”

As Jason follows him, he sees Peter with a smile on his face. The familiarity of it nags at him, but he still can’t place it.

Steve and Natasha are, in fact, downstairs, and Wanda is there, but she appears to be reading, not watching. Bucky is over by the punching bag; he looks over as the two enter. As Jason watches, he thinks that they look more like they’re dancing. In a way, it was like Bruce and Selina, or something. He's been trying not to make parallels, but he was too tired not to.

Natasha moves away from Steve, turning towards the newcomers. “What are you pretty boys doing here?”

Jason’s pretty sure that he flushes red instantly. Before he can get anything out (though he was sure it would’ve only been stuttering), Thor beats him to it.

“I wanted to test our new friend in the act of sparring.” He loops an arm around Jason’s shoulders and smiles.

Steve smiles. “Just don’t break him, alright? He’s not a super soldier like me or Buck.”

“Yes, yes, I know. He will still be fine by the end of this, I promise you.”

As Thor talks, Jason looks over to Bucky. He’s watching them, or maybe, more accurately, just him. Jason wonders if Bucky knows this Earth’s version of him, and then decides he doesn’t want to know. It wouldn’t mean the most savory of things for this Jason, he’s sure.

When the two finally begin sparring, Jason loses himself in it. None of the villains in Gotham, thus far, have been giving him a real challenge, so this is good. Jason realizes, at some point, that neither of them are pulling their punches. Thor isn’t trying to hurt him, obviously, but he’s not coddling him, by any means.

The only thing that snaps him out of his head is when he hears an all too familiar voice yell: “Jason!” He looks away from Thor, giving the blond the opening to tackle him.

His head hits the ground and he blinks, but he definitely saw _him_ again. He _sees_ Tim and he’s trying to shove Thor off of him, because he knows he can’t be hallucinating at this point -- Steve and Natasha and Wanda are all looking at the apparition who’s coming toward Jason.

There’s a touch of concern on his features as Jason gets up, closes the distance between the two. “Are you imprisoned? What’s going on over there- here?”

Jason can’t stop himself from cupping Tim’s cheeks and putting their foreheads together, despite the fact that Tim is as cold as Mr. Freeze. “It’s alright, Babybird. This is my… My team. We’re training.”

Tim pulls back slightly, scrutinizing the other four just as much as they’re scrutinizing him. “Wait. They’re the Avengers. You’re working with the Avengers?” He disentangles himself completely. “If something happens to Jason, you won’t have _Batman_ to worry about, it’ll be me.”

Natasha is the first one to react. “You’re from another world.” She looks to Jason, the pair’s eyes meeting. “And you’re not Batman there.”

Tim tugs on his sleeve. “You’re Batman? I don’t- what’s going on?” He shakes his head. “Never mind, I don’t know how much time I have. We working on a way to get you home by deciphering some ancient texts and Zatanna can send me here for a little while, but it tires her out a lot. We think that you need a touchstone of sorts, someone who exists in both worlds, to help bring you back to us.”

“There’s another you here and I talk to him, sometimes, and he works at Wayne Enterprises too and-”

He squeezes Jason’s hands. “I don’t think it can be me, unless I'm really different. They should be magic users or have ties to it, at least. Maybe there’s a Zatanna? Or Raven?”

He shakes his head; if they exist here, he hasn't heard about them. “I’ll figure it out though, okay? I’m going to come back to you. I love you so much, Babybird.”

Tim flickers for a moment. He looks equal parts sad and scared and worried. He looks like he’s about to cry and Jason realizes that he is, too. “We love you and miss you so much, Jay.” He reaches up, their lips brushing against each other’s and then he’s gone.

He wipes his face, not wanting the others to see him cry. “God damn it,” he whispers, because he can’t stop, can’t stop the sobs that start to run through his body. He sits on the floor, burying his face in his hands.

Bucky kneels behind him, hesitantly putting a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I’ll help you.”

“We all will,” Steve tells him. He comes over, sits on the ground, and pulls Jason to him, into a strong hug that makes Jason feel more okay than he has in weeks. “See? I told you that it was a good idea for you to come.”

Jason weakly smiles, not that Steve can see it, before he lightly thwacks him on the arm. He’s too drained to protest.


End file.
